A blog about everything and anything...but mostly science, philosophy and other stuff

Friday, December 25, 2015

The Moon and the reason I was working this Christmas

KING Goodwill Zwelithini, young men coming to age, the full
Moon and a great moral teacher is born. All these things have conspired to have
me go to work this Christmas.

Having the full moon this Christmas –something that has not
happened since Star Wars Episode IV but more on that later- may seem like a
Christmas miracle to some, but to not so to me. You see, the full moon being on
the 25th December of this year means that the First Fruits Ceremony
(called “uMkhosi woSelwa”) also has to coincide with this day.

UMkhosi WoSelwa is a sacred, traditional Zulu ceremony that
sees young men flock to the King’s eNyokeni Palace in kwaNongoma. Once there,
over several days they perform certain sacred rituals in line with what is
expected of a Zulu man. When the King announced that uMkhosi WeSolwa will be
held for a few days including Christmas, I cannot say that I was overly
enthused.

Contrary to what I thought I knew about the Zulu nation, a
lot of their lifestyle is dependent on the night sky. Indeed on many occasions,
I have witnessed the King talking about the importance of astronomy for Zulus.

King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu has, on these public
occasions, mentioned how the positions of the stars and planets play an
important role in determining when harvests are made, when certain traditional
ceremonies are conducted, and the role bodies like the moon play in the history
of this great nation.

Speaking of which, around this time of year in 1878/9, His
Majesty King Cetshwayo kaMpande, faced with imminent war cancelled this
ceremony for that year in order to prepare his men for an altercation with Her
Majesty’s Army in the midst of the dawn Anglo-Zulu war.

The heavens again became important, as the King’s men
defeated the greatest army in the world at the time. As spears and cow-hide
shields defeated semi-automatic guns, the Moon blocked the sun, and the
blood-stained battlefield of iSandlwana momentarily turned day to night; a sign
to the Zulu that God was on their side.

The current king has brought back this and many other
traditional Zulu ceremonies, and as per custom, uMkhosi Woselwa has to happen
during the last full moon of the year. The last time we had a Christmas full
moon was in 1977, the same year the first Star Wars film in the 7-piece saga
was first released.

While a Christmas full moon may seem special at first, it is
quite rare as it occurs once every 38 years, but so it does for every other day
of every other month as Neil deGresse Tyson tweeted this week.

Anyway, I cannot really complain about my predicament, as it
has prompted me to think of the science of the moon, Star Wars, Christmas, and
a proud Zulu nation and their ties to the night sky that has survived to this
day.